I threw a little soiree in honor of an out-of-town friend last week and got my garden all spruced up for the occasion. The last of the live oak leaves — or as close to last as I’m going to get — were finally banished, chairs and patios were scrubbed, plants were pruned, and pots were tidied. With flush spring growth, a shined up garden, and an overcast, lightly drizzling day, I took my camera out and made the rounds. As I did, I noticed anew how much I love a blue and red combo.

Typically I go for cobalt or royal blue, but more and more turquoise has been creeping into my garden. Witness my new door color, for example.

In fact it’s pretty ocean-hued on the upper patio thanks to a turquoise table, a greenish blue succulent dish, and a turquoise-striped rug.

More cobalt and red courtesy of a ‘Brakelights’ red yucca (Hesperaloe parviflora ‘Brakelights’) in a blue pot, mulched with chunks of blue and turquoise slag glass.

‘Blue Boy’ Yucca desmetiana in a red pot

And a red Circle Pot from Potted with a royal-blue table in front. Moonshine-yellow motel chairs add a soft accent color. It’s not blooming yet, but cobalt-flowered Salvia guaranitica grows under the red hanging pot.

In case I forget where I live. That’s my new ‘Bubba’ desert willow in front. I’m excited to see its first blooms.

All shades of blue are welcome in the bottle-tree garden. Moby, my ‘Whale’s Tongue’ agave (A. ovatifolia), sets the tone with steel blue, but cobalt and turquoise pots and bottles add richer color to the scene.

A few red-leaved or -flowering plants under the bottle tree are putting on new growth: ‘Tropicanna’ canna, firecracker fern, red Salvia greggii.

A cobalt pot-style fountain and turquoise shed doors echo the color of the swimming pool.

A closer look. I like how the yellows of ‘Color Guard’ yucca and Mexican feathergrass and the forest-green of the clipped boxwood balls reduces blue to an accent color in this area, giving it a different feel.

The ‘Wonderful’ pomegranate behind the arch is blooming, as are purple coneflowers and Jerusalem sage.

More purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea). I love having these cheery butterfly attractors in the garden.

Ah, there’s my favorite red again. I’ve planted a cypress vine on my metal arch this year and am loving the delicate twining of the vine and those lipstick-red flowers against the ‘Sapphire Skies’ Yucca rostrata.

A closer look

Out front, green is more dominant, with pops of red from a tractor-rim planter and a red yucca (Hesperaloe parviflora). Toothless sotol (Dasylirion longissimum) in the tall pipe and ‘Jaws’ agave in the rusty tractor rim keep the greens going, as does ‘Alphonse Karr’ bamboo leaning in from the left.

Green, green, green, starting with ‘Green Goblet’ agave, which will eventually reach 4 to 5 feet tall and wide. But notice I snuck in a few coral-red salvias behind it, whose minty scent will, I hope, deter deer from antlering the poor agave next winter.

A wider view shows more lush greens — and my neighbor’s red-white-and-blue in honor of Memorial Day. I hope my fellow American readers enjoy today’s holiday. And to my dear husband on our wedding anniversary, you make life colorful for me. Thanks for 24 wonderful years and counting!

22 Responses

Happy Anniversary! Here’s hoping you have another 24 years (at least) of happiness together.

Your garden spaces are a delight, especially in the subtle light of a cloudy day when the color gradations are more easily appreciated. Maybe that is the attraction of turquoise outdoors at least in part – it is so visually soothing, even in the brightest light? I’ve always admired your use of repetitive elements to emphasize color, shape and visual direction. These photos are practically a case study – thanks very much for sharing them.

Pam, so pretty! I’m amazed at the use you’ve made of your bits of sun in your yard, with Jerusalem Sage and more. Things I never thought would be happy in a live-oak-shaded yard. Gives me ideas for my own part-shade, thanks. Good color and textural combos.

“Bits of sun” is exactly right, Robin, and I’ve tried to make the most of them. I’m also learning which plants can take more shade than they might prefer. This Jerusalem sage gets about a half day of sun and then bright shade in the afternoon, and it does pretty well. —Pam

Your yard is so beautiful! I love that red pot in the first couple of photos. There are many of the same plants in my Sacramento yard but not put together with as much thought and foresight… I’m working on that!

Linda, thanks for the anniversary wishes. I hope the rain jumpstarts your garden’s growth. It’s been a very late spring all around. I still have areas with dianella and Mexican honeysuckle that are struggling back to life. —Pam

Your lovely photographs look just as pretty as the garden did when I visited! Your garden is so soothing and beautiful and everywhere you look is a special vista. Love the pops of color–the cobalt, the greens and reds. Your specimen plants are so beautifully featured and your garden just gets better and better. Truly a work of art…and LOVE. Thank you for sharing with us! Enjoy the glorious Austin rain!

Happy anniversary Pam! The first twenty four years are the hardest, so it’s all pedaling downhill from here. I’ve been unconsciously copying you. I have four Hesperaloe ‘Brakelights’ in cobalt blue pots, two in front and two in back. I just planted my Y. desmettiana ‘Blue Boy’ in an island bed in back. Imitation is truly the sincerest form of compliment!

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Hello! I'm Pam Penick, a dirt-under-my-nails, hoping-for-rain, spiky-plant lover gardening under the Death Star in Austin, Texas (zone 8b). Here's where I share all the gardening goodness I can dig up, not just in Austin but wherever I go. Want to know more? Read Meet Pam and My Gardens. Or drop me a line and say hi.